Kazan

Kazan celebrates the intriguing fare of the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan. Its menu introduces an area of the globe not on the radar at Long Island restaurants, making it definitely worthy of your GPS.

Service, ever good-natured, can veer between caring and clueless. On a night when nothing in the order arrived as it should have, apologies were all that were offered.

Still, Kazan remains a comfortable place to spend an evening. Walls are hung with Oriental rugs and folkloric artifacts, seating is at plush, leather-upholstered banquettes. A dizzying suspended ceiling sculpture of interlocking wood cubes — a holdover from the owners' previous spot, Innuendo — somehow works.

Jump-start your night with logmahn, a knockout soup brimming with colorful vegetables, beef and al dente noodles. Shurpa, an oxtail and vegetable soup, will fortify you for winter. So, too, will pan-seared pelmeni, house-made veal dumplings.

While Kazan's hummus is a silky treat, it should be ordered with lepeshka, a house-baked tandoori-style bread. One night, that bread proves irresistible. Another, it arrives ridiculously late — after entrees — and seems a bit dry, lukewarm.

A cool palate awakener is the Navruz salad of radishes, cucumbers, scallions and dill in a creamy sour cream-based dressing. It's far better than achichuk, over-chilled tomatoes with red onions and jalapeños.

The charm of shish kebabs — chunks of well-marinated grilled meat, poultry or seafood served on a sword — cannot be overstated. Superstars include crisp, moist, spicy-sweet nuggets of salmon, perfectly cooked spiced shrimp, juicy hunks of chicken on the bone and highly seasoned ground beef lula kebabs. Beef and lamb kebabs, though, can come off as dry and somewhat chewy.

A juicy butterflied Cornish hen is what you'll get if you order chicken Tabaka. One night, a grilled whole fish — red snapper was what was available — had been brushed with an almost magical sauce. A shame there was so little to eat, since the fish had been charred down to about four or five viable bites.

There's consolation in the luxurious house-made napoleon (hold the aerosol whipped cream), similar to American icebox cake. And also in the hope that this new restaurant will continue to build on its considerable strengths.